The Gerrit Cole to the Astros Rumor Has Been Refuted

The Pittsburgh Pirates may finally have a trade destination for Gerrit Cole. Jon Morosi reports that a Cole trade to the Houston Astros is imminent, and Ken Rosenthal confirmed by saying a deal is close.

Obviously any analysis would have to wait until there’s an actual deal. I’ll keep this updated with further rumors, and will have thoughts in a bit.

UPDATE 12:09 PM: I think the interesting thing about the Astros is that they don’t have a lot of depth in the areas where the Pirates need depth. Their best prospects are outfielders, which means anyone coming in would be competing with Austin Meadows for a future starting role.

That’s not a bad thing, and not just because Meadows has an injury history and hasn’t made the jump to the big leagues yet. You generally don’t want to put all of your eggs in one basket. That’s how you get into situations where you turn down Ryan Howard because you already have Brad Eldred.

As I’m typing this, Morosi says a deal is done. Further updates coming.

UPDATE 12:19 PM: Morosi says that the upcoming arbitration deadline had to do with the timing of this move.

Key point on Gerrit Cole: His salary arbitration case remains unresolved for 2018. Filing deadline is Friday. #Astros wanted to finalize trade so they can file at their number rather than inherit #Pirates choice. @MLB

UPDATE 12:19 PM: Cole hasn’t been told anything yet, per a few reports.

While a number of parties figure the Gerrit Cole-to-Astros deal will get done, multiple sources are cautioning that it's not there yet. Cole has not been informed of a trade to Houston. Generally, this sort of thing winds up with a deal being consummated. Just not at this point.

Just passed Neal Huntington at Pirate City. He was talking to Sean Rodriguez, bringing food back from the cafeteria. Didn't want to comment on the missed rumor, but said it was missed. And obviously he's not locking anything down at the moment (outside of lunch).